Deacon Childress finds joy in bringing grace to people he serves

Deacon Rick Childress preached the homily and assisted Father Andy Forsythe at Mass at St. Christopher Church in Dickson on Thursday, June 14. Deacon Childress will be ordained to the priesthood on June 30 and will be assigned to Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville as Associate Pastor. Photo by Rick Musacchio

Raised in an active Church of the Nazarene household, attending church twice a week with his family, young Rick Childress loved his Christian faith and felt called to ministry.

Growing up, he moved often due to his father’s work, but landed in Nashville in 2002, and began to put down more permanent roots.

As a student at Trevecca Nazarene University, Deacon Childress started learning more about Nazarene Church history, which led him to do his own research on Catholic Church history, wanting to “patch up the holes” he found.

But the more he studied, the more “I realized my beliefs were more aligned with the Catholic Church.” Even before he went through the official Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program in 2008, “I had already intellectually converted.”

After his full sacramental conversion, he had no plans to become a priest. But a life filled with work, dating, and thoughts of one day having a family still left him feeling that “something was missing.”

He visited some monasteries, open to exploring the life of a monk. Still unsure of his calling, he got in touch with his old friend Andy Forsythe from Trevecca, who was then a seminarian, now a priest, for the Diocese of Nashville. Father Forsythe suggested he talk with Bishop David Choby, an enthusiastic supporter of priestly vocations, who welcomed converts and transplants as seminarians for the Diocese of Nashville.

Deacon Childress met with Bishop Choby, was accepted as a seminarian, and began his studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. “It felt like the right place, and from that moment on, I didn’t look back,” Deacon Childress said. He will be ordained a priest on Saturday, June 30, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

Last month Deacon Childress received his Master of Divinity; Master of Arts, summa cum laude; and Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology, magna cum laude, from the Josephinum.

Years ago, as a new seminarian, Deacon Childress got his first taste of “the beauty and challenges of what it’s like to be a priest” by living with Bishop Choby in his Hendersonville home and working at the Chancery Office.

The late Bishop Choby played an important role in nurturing Deacon Childress’ vocation, but the soon-to-be-ordained priest knew that due to the bishop’s poor health, “the majority of my priesthood would not be with him.”

During the rite of ordination, new priests “promise obedience to this particular bishop and everybody who comes after him,” Deacon Childress said. “There’s a beauty and a joy to that.”

Deacon Childress’ first assignment will be as associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Clarksville, serving alongside pastor Father Steve Wolf and other priests in residence. He has not served in the parish before, but he has met with Father Wolf and is looking forward to his first assignment, being part of a large, active parish with multiple priests and deacons.

As a seminarian, Deacon Childress spent time in several smaller outlying parishes, including Our Lady of Lourdes in Springfield and Sacred Heart in Lawrenceburg, which “gave me a good chance to get to know the cultures outside of Metro Nashville.”

Deacon Childress is still learning the parishes and building relationships with laity and other clergy members in the diocese, including the bishop. “I’m very encouraged that Bishop (J. Mark) Spalding sees the importance of a presbyterate who are all brothers. We’re definitely not kings in a castle.”

Deacon Childress said he feels ready for the “gear shift” between seminary student life and full-time priestly ministry, “actively involved with people who have real challenges and needs to be met.”

He’s not sure what his parish ministry focus will be yet, but said he would like to be involved in catechesis and RCIA. “Saying the Mass and hearing confessions will be a particular joy,” he said.

Many of Deacon Childress’ family members, including his parents and three siblings, plan to travel from cities and states far and wide to be on hand for his June 30 ordination.

Deacon Childress’ family remains part of the Church of the Nazarene; he is the only Catholic in his family. “I got a little resistance from my family when I converted,” he said. But now, “they’re happy for me.”

Leading up to his conversion to Catholicism, Deacon Childress went through RCIA with Father John Sims Baker, who was chaplain for University Catholic at the time. At the suggestion of friends, he attended Mass at the Church of the Assumption and adopted it as his home parish. He will say his first Mass there on Sunday, July 1, at 11 a.m.

“I’m very grateful, happy, and looking forward to it,” Deacon Childress said about his life as a priest. “This is all about bringing grace and meeting people where they’re at, and joining in their story.”